79

Happy Birthday Mom! We are so pleased that we are celebrating my mom's life today. She has been an amazing fighter through the last two years and today we can simply smile and be grateful. Last summer we were told that her cancer was beyond healing. The Dr. promised to help her have a quality of life that was decent but we certainly weren't planning for any big birthday celebrations down the road. At the end of February we were surprised with the amazing news that she was in fact in remission..."a medical impossibility." But that's what's so great about my mom. She didn't care what was medically impossible. She knew that her God could do anything. She trusted in the words of Luke 1:37: "For nothing shall be impossible with God." And so today we truly celebrate her life. We know now that life is fragile and uncertain. She has her next check up in 3 weeks and of course the stomach nerves rumble now and again, but for today...we are happy. Happy that she has been given another year. Happy that she feels like herself. Happy that she is well, happy! For more details about who my mom is, see the blog from a year ago, http://jodimullenfondell.blogspot.com/2008/05/happy-birthday-mom.html
She's still got that same fighting spirit. She's still cheering for the Lakers and the Angels and yelling at the television when either team lets her down. She's still active and involved in the life of their church, caring for hurting people, giving generously of her time and compassion. All this in spite of being deathly ill for nearly two years. I do thank God for her life today. And I feel more profoundly grateful with each passing day. We do not know what the future holds, but we do know that we've shared a great relationship with one another and are now treasuring the moments we can spend together even though we find ourselves on different ends of the earth. I am mostly happy that my parents are able to enjoy a season of life with some reprieve from the hurts and burdens of the past years. And my prayer for my mom today is that the fullness of her life will be obvious to her and that the blessing that she has been to so many through the years, and that continues to this day, will be known to her in rich and powerful ways.
I love you mom! Happy 79th Birthday!